The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osterspermum ecklonis, and referred to by the cultivar name Vanilla Cream.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Emerald, Victoria, Australia. The objective of the breeding program was to create new compact Osteospermum cultivars with large inflorescences and tolerance to high temperatures.
The new cultivar originated from a cross made by the Inventor of a proprietary selection of Osteospermum ecklonis identified as code number ivory 41 as the female, or seed, parent and a proprietary selection of Osteospermum ecklonis identified as code number ivory 96, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Osteospermum was selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of this cross in a controlled environment in Emerald, Victoria, Australia in 1994.
Plants of the new cultivar are different from plants of the female parent, the selection ivory 41 in plant habit and inflorescence size. Plants of the new Osteospermum are less trailing and have more rounded ray florets than plants of the male parent, the selection ivory 96.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings at Emerald, Victoria, Australia, has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.